Tag: Marina del Rey filming locations

The Marina del Rey Marriott from “90210”

One location that has been on my To-Stalk List for ages now is the Marina del Rey Marriott, which appeared in the Season 1 episode of fave show 90210 titled “That Which We Destroy” – in two different scenes featuring my girl Shannen Doherty, no less! And while I had planned on stalking the locale last July when Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I were in the area for a full-day stalking adventure, as so often happens when the two of us get together, we had far too many locations and far too little time. Thankfully though, my and the Grim Cheaper’s new L.A. home-base is in Santa Monica, just a few miles north of the hotel, so, while we were in town last weekend, I made it a point to finally visit the place.

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The Marina del Rey Marriott, which is within walking distance of both Venice Beach and Mother Beach, features an outdoor pool, a fitness center, views of Marina del Rey’s gorgeous waterways (and, ironically enough, the parking lot where Jack McKay was killed on Beverly Hills, 90210, which I blogged about here), 24 different meeting rooms comprising a total of 18,000 square feet of space, and a ginormous rooftop ballroom named the Bayview Ballroom, which boasts 360-views of Los Angeles, a huge outdoor patio area and a helipad!

The Marina del Rey Marriott has won several accolades over the years, including being named an LA’s the Place Top Pick in 2010. Playboy Magazine also recognized the hotel’s outdoor bar, Glow Ultra Lounge, as one of the top ten lounges in Los Angeles.

With its dark red pillars, shining marble floors and glowing accent candles, the Marina del Rey Marriott gives off a very hip and trendy vibe and it is not at all hard to see how it ended up onscreen on 90210.

The Marriot actually popped up three times in the “That Which We Destroy” episode of 90210. First, one of the hotel’s hallways masqueraded as the hallway of the theatre where Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty) starred in a local performance of Hamlet.

It is thanks to the carpet in that hallway that I was able to figure out this particular location. For a while I was stumped as to where filming of the theatre scene had taken place, but after watching the episode for the umpteenth time, I noticed that the carpeting looked very much like hotel carpeting – Marriott carpeting in particular. (My dad has been a Marriott Rewards Member for years, so I am extremely familiar with the chain’s carpeting, which seems to be the same at every single property.) So I started looking through photographs of the various Marriotts in the L.A. area, starting with the ones nearest to Manhattan Beach Studios where the series is lensed and working my way outward, and it was not long before I came across the right one.

Once I figured out the “theatre” location, I realized that two other scenes from the “That Which We Destroy” episode had also been shot at the Marriott. The hotel’s Stones restaurant was used as the spot where Debbie Wilson (Lori Loughlin), Harry Wilson (Rob Estes), Tracy Clark (Christina Moore), and Sean Cavanaugh (Josh Henderson) went for a getting-to-know-each-other dinner.

Again, the carpet was a dead giveaway that the dinner scene had taken place at a hotel.

And finally the lobby bar was where, in my favorite scene from the episode, Brenda told Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth) that she could no longer be friends with her because “I don’t want to fight over Dylan or Ryan or whoever. You know, I’m over all of that drama.” You tell her, Brenda! Tables were brought in for the filming of the scene in order to make the lobby bar look like a sit-down restaurant. In reality, there are couches situated in that area, as you can see below. Ironically enough, it looks like 90210 was filming at the Marina del Rey Marriot once again this very week.

90210 was hardly the first production to film at the hotel. In 1989’s Lethal Weapon 2, the exterior of the Marina del Rey Marriott was used as the establishing shot of the hotel where Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) first met Leo Getz (Joe Pesci).

The Marriot was only used for the brief establishing shot, though. All actual filming took place about ten miles away at the InterContinental Los Angeles Century City hotel, which was at the time a JW Marriott, the same JW Marriott that was featured in the 1990 thriller Pacific Heights.

In 2006’s Drake and Josh Go Hollywood, the Marina del Rey Marriott stood in for The Chambrulay, where Drake Parker (Drake Bell), Josh Nichols (Josh Peck) and Audrey Parker-Nichols (Nancy Sullivan) stayed while (accidentally) visiting L.A.

The Marina del Rey Marriott also stood in for the Grand Saville Hotel where almost all of the Season 1 episode of Chuck titled “Chuck Versus the Undercover Lover” took place.

Glow Ultra Lounge also appeared briefly in one of Chuck’s mind flashes in the episode.

Only the interior of the Marriott was used in “Chuck Versus the Undercover Lover.” The establishing shot was of the Wilshire Grand Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles, which is currently in the process of being torn down in order to make way for what will be the tallest building west of the Mississippi.

In the Season 3 episode of fave show Dexter titled “I Had a Dream”, the Marriott stood in for Hotel Belvedere, the supposed Miami, Florida motel where Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) stalked his former partner-in-crime, Asst. District Atty. Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits). Both the exterior . . .

. . . and the interior of the property were used in the episode.

One of the Marriott’s actual rooms was also utilized in the filming.

As you can see below, though, some CGI trickery was used to cut off the top floors of the hotel in the episode, making it virtually unrecognizable. In fact, had it not been for fellow stalker Gary, from the Seeing Stars website, I never would have realized Hotel Belvedere was the Marina del Rey Marriott.

The Season 9 episode of American Idol titled “Los Angeles, CA Auditions” was also filmed at the Marina del Rey Marriot. The actual auditions took place in the hotel’s Bayview Ballroom.

Some scenes from the episode were also lensed in front of the hotel;

and in the lobby. And while the judges apparently arrived via helicopter and landed on the Marriott’s roof in the episode, I could not footage of that anywhere online.

In the 2010 movie Valentine’s Day, football player Sean Jackson (Eric Dane) made a speech on the rooftop of the Marina del Rey Marriott. Check out those views!!

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Marina del Rey Marriot, from the “That Which We Destroy” episode of 90210, is located at 4100 Admiralty Way in Marina del Rey. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

February 22, 2013
Mitch Hiller’s House from “Enough”

One location that I have been absolutely obsessed with for what seems like ages now is the ultra-modern beach house where Mitch Hiller (Billy Campbell) lived in the 2002 thriller Enough – which I just recently discovered is the very same spot that stands in for the exterior of the Indianapolis loft belonging to Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe) on fave show Parks and Recreation. Mike had long known where the property was located thanks to a former co-worker of his whose husband was on the Enough crew. So, while we were in the Marina Del Rey-area on Saturday (which, as I mentioned yesterday, was completely dreary and overcast – I thought it was supposed to be summer, folks!), he took me right on over to stalk the place. And I am very happy to report that it is just as spectacular in person as it was onscreen. Looks like this stalker may just have herself a new dream house!

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The Enough house, which was originally constructed in 1996 out of glass, cement and weathering steel, boasts four bedrooms, five baths, an upstairs office, an elevator, a gourmet kitchen, a detached two-car garage, private balconies off of each bedroom, floor-to-ceiling windows, a media room, and sweeping views of Marina Del Rey’s Grand Canal and the Pacific Ocean. There seems to be some discrepancy online over the abode’s square footage, though, as Zillow (and most property record sites) report it as measuring 5,758 square feet, while the pad’s real estate website claims it to be “almost 3,000”. From viewing the place’s exterior, I would guess the 3,000 measurement to be the better bet. And while the dwelling was just recently for sale for a whopping $4,850,000, it appears to have since been taken off the market.

In Enough, Slim Hiller (Jennifer Lopez) stalks her abusive ex-husband Mitch and sets up an extensive trap to kill him at the home.

And while I would have bet money that the real life interior of the home was used in the filming, that does not appear to have been the case.

As you can see below, the real life property is not nearly as open as its onscreen counterpart and its ceilings are not nearly as high.

The actual home also has a more polished and less industrial look than what appeared in the movie. So while I love, love, love the exterior of the place, I have to say that I much prefer the onscreen design of the interior to the reality.

And while we were there, I, of course, just had to sit where JLo sat at the end of the flick.

As I mentioned last week in my post about the loft where Chris lives on Parks and Recreation, the exterior of the Enough house also popped up as the exterior of Chris’ pad in the Season 3 episodes titled “Indianapolis” and “Road Trip”.

Mike, who, as I have mentioned countless times before, knows the City of L.A. and its surroundings like the back of his hand, also pointed out that retired Laker Rick Fox and then wife, actress Vanessa Williams, used to live right across the canal from the Enough house at 5518 Pacific Avenue. The home was sold to new owners, though, sometime after the couple divorced in 2004.

And while we were stalking the Enough house, Mike and I discovered a gorgeous garden named Channel Pointe located directly across the street. Apparently gardens like the one pictured below are quite common in Marina Del Rey (which is quickly turning out to be one of my favorite cities in Los Angeles). Love it!

Be sure to “Like” IAMNOTASTALKER on Facebook here and “Friend” me on my personal page here. You can also check out the IAMNOTASTALKER About Me page here and you can follow me on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And don’t forget to take a look at my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for telling me about this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Mitch’s house from Enough is located at 5417 Via Donte in Marina Del Rey. Rick Fox and Vanessa Williams formerly lived across the canal in the home located at 5518 Pacific Avenue. And the Channel Pointe Garden can be reached from Via Donte, directly across the street from the Enough house.

July 18, 2012
The Parking Lot Where Jack McKay was Killed on “Beverly Hills, 90210”

This past Saturday (which, as you can see above, was extremely overcast and cloudy – boo!), Mike, from MovieShotsLa, and I spent all day stalking in the Venice Beach/Marina Del Rey-area. After stopping by the Killer Café (aka the former Edie’s Diner from Enough and Dexter), which I will be blogging about soon, Mike pointed to the parking lot across the way and mentioned that it was where Jack McKay (Josh Taylor), father of Dylan McKay (Luke Perry – my high school love, sigh!), was killed by a car bomb in the Season 3 episode of fave show Beverly Hills, 90210 titled “Dead End”. Well, as you can imagine, I was completely bowled over at hearing this bit of information and asked Mike to take me right on over there to stalk the place.

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It’s funny, but even though I had only seen the “Dead End” episode once, way back in 1993 when it first aired, the parking lot where Jack McKay was killed was seared into my memory and, as soon as Mike pointed it out, I recognized the place at once and was immediately transported back to my high school days. It is amazing how some television shows and movies have that capability! I mean, I could literally almost feel the braces on my teeth!

In “Dead End”, Jack, who has just been released from federal prison, moves into a humongous, borrowed yacht with his girlfriend, Christine Pettit (Valerie Wildman), and Dylan. In the episode, the vessel was docked at the very end of Berth E2500 in Marina Del Rey.

One rainy morning, shortly after moving in together and mending their relationship, Dylan goes to move his father’s car from the marina parking lot. In the scene, he walks out of the gate marked “E2500, 2700, 2900”.

As fate would have it, just as Dylan is about to unlock the car door, Jack calls out to him to inform him that Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth) is on the phone. (And I just have to say here that while scanning through “Dead End” to make screen captures for today’s post, I got seriously fed up with Kelly’s incessant baby-talk! Blech! I realize that this goes without saying, but Team Brenda all the way! ) Jack then runs up the dock to give Dylan the phone and tells him that he will move the car because, “Well, hey, what are dads for, huh?”

While Dylan is talking to Kelly, Jack’s car blows up, killing him (or so producers would have us believe) and forever altering Dylan’s life.

And I, of course, just had to imitate Dylan’s reaction to the explosion while I was there. (For some reason, I thought he had his arms out during the scene.)

The very same parking lot was also the spot where Dylan got rid of his gun – and let go of his anger over his father’s murder – with his girlfriend, Antonia “Toni” Marchette (Rebecca Gayheart), standing by his side in the Season 6 episode titled “Gypsies, Cramps and Fleas (a.k.a. Halloween VI)”.

The parking lot was also used in the Season 2 episode of Dexter titled “An Inconvenient Lie”, as Gulf Shore Motors, the used car dealership where murderer Roger Hicks (Don McManus) worked and where Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) stalked him.

Be sure to “Like” IAMNOTASTALKER on Facebook here and “Friend” me on my personal page here. You can also check out the IAMNOTASTALKER About Me page here and you can follow me on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And don’t forget to take a look at my latest post – about my no-carb diet – on my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for showing me this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The parking lot where Dylan McKay’s father was killed in the “Dead End” episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 is Public Parking Lot # 9 located at 14110 Palawan Way in Marina Del Rey. In the above map, the location of Jack’s boat is denoted with an orange arrow; the gate Dylan and his father walked out of (for berth E2500, 2700, 2900) is marked with a blue arrow; the spot where Jack’s car was parked is designated with a pink arrow; the area where Dylan was standing when the bomb exploded is denoted with a yellow “X”; and finally, the used car lot from the “An Inconvenient Lie” episode of Dexter is stamped with a green circle.

July 17, 2012
The Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey from “90210”

Way back in July of last year, the Grim Cheaper and I found ourselves on the West Side of Los Angeles with a few hours to kill, so we decided to head down to Marina del Rey as I had never before done any stalking there. I ended up absolutely falling in love with the seaside community, especially its downtown shopping area where I know I could have done some serious damage to my credit cards had the GC not been with me. Anyway, one of the area locations that had long been listed in my trusty stalking notebook was The Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey hotel, which had made an appearance in the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap. So I dragged the GC right on over there as soon as we got into town. Flash forward to this past February when I was checking out fellow stalker Geoff’s 90210Locations website and, let me tell you, I just about fell out of my chair when I saw that the hotel had been featured prominently in a recent episode of the series. Now, as you all know, I watch 90210 religiously and am always keeping my eye out for locations, but, for whatever reason, I had somehow not recognized the place at all! Am I losing my touch here?

The Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey is situated on a 5.6-acre plot of land directly overlooking the picturesque marina from which the town gets its name. With its dark paneled walls, marble floors, and huge floral arrangements, the beautiful hotel reminded me quite a bit of The Langham Huntington in Pasadena, which, not so coincidentally, was formerly owned by the Ritz-Carlton Corporation. Needless to say, I fell in love with the place on the spot and so wanted to book a room and spend the night there, but the GC was having absolutely none of that. Shocking, I know.

The Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey, which is Los Angeles’ only waterside AAA Five Diamond hotel, features 304 guest rooms, each with its own “Juliet” balcony, tennis courts, marina and city views, over 30,000 square feet of event space, a fitness center, and a Michelin-recommend restaurant. According to the hotel’s website, it also boasts “L.A.’s only waterfront pool and whirlpool” (pictured above). Besides being a filming location, the place is also a big-time celebrity hot spot. Just a few of the stars who have been spotted there include Adrian Grenier, John Travolta, Johnny Depp, Bridget Marquardt, Brooke Shields, Chris Henchy, Zac Efron, The Bachelorette’s DeAnna Pappas and then fiancé Jesse Csincsak, Brad Garrett, Mary Hart, Halle Berry, Hulk Hogan, Dave Annable, Odette Annable, Jason Lewis, Jason Mraz, Scott Caan, Paul Bettany, and Steve Carell. Snoop Dogg and childhood sweetheart Shante Taylor got married there in 1997. And pop star Britney Spears is a regular guest. In fact, these famous (and oh-so-classy) photos of BritBrit and then fiance Kevin Federline were taken on one of the hotel’s balconies.

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In the Season 4 episode of 90210 titled “No Good Deed”, the Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey, popped up twice. The hot tub area was first used as the spot where Naomi Clark (AnnaLynne McCord), wearing a very skimpy, blue cut-out bathing suit (and I’m telling you, if I had that body, I’d be wearing that bathing suit every single day of my life!), convinced movie star Mitchell Nash (Will Kemp) to let her throw a party for him.

That spa area is pictured above.

Later in the episode, the hotel’s pool area was the site of the Hillingsbrook Foundation’s “Clean Up Castillo Bay” charity event which Annie Wilson (Shenae Grimes) hosted.

The spot where Liam Court (my love Matt Lanter) rescued the drowning girl is located just outside of the pool area, in the Marina del Rey harbor.

The scene where the event’s silent auction was held was also most likely filmed at the Ritz, although I did not see any areas which resembled the screen captures above while I was there, nor can I find any similar-looking rooms on the hotel’s website.

In the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap, the Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey’s pool stood in for the pool of the fictional “The Stafford Hotel”. Interestingly enough, two other spots were also used to masquerade as The Stafford in the flick – the exterior was the Treasure Island Administration Building in San Francisco and the interior scenes were filmed at the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena.

The Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey was also used extensively in the Season 5 episode of Dexter titled “Take It”, as the hotel where Jordan Chase (Angelina Jolie’s ex-husband Jonny Lee Miller) hosted his “Take It” convention. Quite a few areas of the hotel were used in the episode, including the exterior;

The Ritz-Carlton Ballroom, which you can see a photograph of here;

one of hotel’s outdoor terraces;

The Ritz-Carlton Suite, which you can see a photograph of here;

and two neighboring 7th floor suites.

Big THANK YOU to Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, for informing me of the hotel’s 90210 connection!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey, from the “No Good Deed” episode of 90210, the “Take It” episode of Dexter, and The Parent Trap remake, is located at 4375 Admiralty Way in Marina del Rey. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

March 29, 2012